Why Has The Combustion-Based Engine Technology Not Evolved?

Engine combustion technology has evolved considerably each and every decade. The evolution just hasn’t been obvious.

Over the last 50 years, auto engineers have figured out a lot:

How to affordably produce longer-lasting and more reliable engines. It’s not at all uncommon for an engine to go 200k miles without requiring any sort of repair. In 1964, it wasn’t uncommon for engines to need rebuilds or major overhauls after 20k miles.

Transmissions have evolved considerably between 1964 and 2014 – in the “old days,” an automatic might have 3 speeds, and generally wasted fuel. Today, we have 9 speed automatics with lock-up torque converters that are more fuel efficient than manuals.

The modern engine has been almost completely computerized..that’s no small feat. Imagine taking a car from the 60′s or 70′s and replacing each and every analog signal with a digital alternative. It would be hard to do, especially if you had to invent every part you needed.

The modern engine is considerably more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. Many gasoline-powered engines today are “PZEVs,” or partially zero emissions vehicles. That means that what comes out of the tailpipe is cleaner than the ambient air in a lot of the world’s largest cities.

Engines are built at tolerances simply unimaginable even 30 years ago.

A lot of interesting ideas – like the rotary engine, the inline five cylinder, gas-electric hybrids – have been mass-produced. This experimentation is possible because of the size and scope of the auto industry.

Advanced computer modeling has changed what we know about the combustion process and made it possible for designers to simultaneously increase power and reduce fuel consumption, and to do so on a consistent basis.

The size and weight of the modern engine is improved in all aspects.

The rest of the modern automobile has been massively improved. Crashworthiness in 1964 was a joke compared to today, when you could potentially walk away from a high-speed head-on collision. This isn’t just because of seat belts and airbags (which is an incredible technology in its’ own right) – vehicle designers have worked hard to refine frame design and construction techniques to create more rigid structures that absorb more crash energy.

These advances involved years and years of incremental effort. With only a few exceptions, most of these changes are hard to spot.

However, when you consider that engines are smaller, more efficient, more powerful, more reliable, more environmentally friend AND more affordable today than at any point in history, it’s hard to argue that engines have not evolved.

Perhaps the trouble with evolution in design is that it’s not always obvious. Unless you pay close attention to the latest and greatest technology – like Ford’s tiny new 3-cylinder 1.0L EcoBoost, which omits a balance shaft (kind of a big deal) – you wouldn’t even know that amazing engineering is taking place all around you…

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